I feel the rep system is fine if people arent using it as a makeshift like button. I think if anything people shouldnt be able to rep the same person twice, this would make sure that someones reputation is based on a wider variety of people and not just from being repped by the same 3 friends 100 times
they already restrict how often you can rep the same person. the problem is you have to "spread it around" to get the ability back so they are in effect forcing us to over-rep just so we can give out the original rep. truthfully there are people on here who i have no problem repping multiple times because they are just that useful, but i don't like the idea of having to throw around meaningless rep just to rep a single person.
also, i never encountered the "too much rep in 24 hours" error until they did away with the like button. i pretty much did what you said and used it as a makeshift like button. i never gave out much rep to begin with unless it was a hell of a post. rep from me used to mean something. now it mostly means i'm "spreading it around" so i can rep someone in particular.
plus, isn't having everyone post that ron paul pic more of a system drain than likes? lol that shit cracks me up every time i see it. i'm tempted to actually use it myself since people are starting to pick up on what it means. i just wish ol' beardo didn't choose such a politically charged image to use. bastard has everyone posting pics of ron paul. lol